Tony Hsieh at Zappos: Structure, Culture and Radical Change
1. Describe Holacracy management style. Which of the leadership/management styles we’ve studied is it most similar to?
Holacracy management style is a management style based on self-management. It allows employees to manage themselves. However, this style cannot be considered as no management or no structure, because structure is based on projects and tasks rather than a hierarchy of people and job descriptions. In Holacracy, no fixed job exists, therefore, employees work as part of a small team designed to seek specific goals needed by a project. They are required to direct themselves to the goals. This small team, called “circle”, could be formed and closed, depending on project’s …show more content…
Using principles from this course, describe Tony Hsieh as a leader. Tony Hsieh showed theory Y leadership mentioned in Chapter 4 and Week 3 lecture. He thought that employees self-motivated by selfdirection and self-control are the key to maximize productivity. He also believed that employees do have to be controlled and forced in order to perform effectively. I think that his belief in theory Y is reflected well in his management style, Holacracy. Chapter 6 says, a leader, who keeps his focus on customers and employees rather than just pushing his opinion and self-interest, is called an ethical leader. And Hsieh’s behavior was enough to be called an ethical leader. For example, he offered employees an opportunity to change themselves. Even if he could just force his Holacracy to employees, he chose to give them an opportunity to read a book, “Reinventing Organizations”, to let them understand his philosophy of Holacracy themselves. And he also gave an opportunity to leave Zappos, if an employee thinks that he or she does not fit this new culture. Hsieh was also one of the first CEOs who utilized Twitter to communicate with stakeholders, such as customers, employees, and vendors, and gained many followers. Transparency from this active communication made him successful in terms of relationship. These concerns for people made Hsieh have happy employees. Moreover, Hsieh adopted a customer-centric strategy. To create customer satisfaction through the “wow” experience, such …show more content…
In the Dan Pink video we viewed on October 3, Pink said truly motivated people are driven by three factors. Name those factors and describe whether Zappos employees (under Holacracy) can find motivation through the factors. Dan Pink listed three factors that drive truly motivated people: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is a desire to be self-directed. As previously stated, under Holacracy, employees are required to direct themselves to the goals. They are encouraged to do decision making and directing their project. Employees could be absorbed in what they would like to accomplish and what needs to get done. These were the main characteristic of Holacracy, therefore, Zappos employees could obviously find their motivation through autonomy. Mastery is an urge to get better at the task. In the case of Zappos, Holacracy challenged employees. In fact, many employees leave Zappos. However, those who survived are encouraged to make full use of their skills in the project and keep challenging themselves by giving an entrepreneurial responsibility. This may guide them to achieve high proficiency at the task and understand the big picture of how the entire company
1. Describe Holacracy management style. Which of the leadership/management styles we’ve studied is it most similar to?
Holacracy management style is a management style based on self-management. It allows employees to manage themselves. However, this style cannot be considered as no management or no structure, because structure is based on projects and tasks rather than a hierarchy of people and job descriptions. In Holacracy, no fixed job exists, therefore, employees work as part of a small team designed to seek specific goals needed by a project. They are required to direct themselves to the goals. This small team, called “circle”, could be formed and closed, depending on project’s …show more content…
Using principles from this course, describe Tony Hsieh as a leader. Tony Hsieh showed theory Y leadership mentioned in Chapter 4 and Week 3 lecture. He thought that employees self-motivated by selfdirection and self-control are the key to maximize productivity. He also believed that employees do have to be controlled and forced in order to perform effectively. I think that his belief in theory Y is reflected well in his management style, Holacracy. Chapter 6 says, a leader, who keeps his focus on customers and employees rather than just pushing his opinion and self-interest, is called an ethical leader. And Hsieh’s behavior was enough to be called an ethical leader. For example, he offered employees an opportunity to change themselves. Even if he could just force his Holacracy to employees, he chose to give them an opportunity to read a book, “Reinventing Organizations”, to let them understand his philosophy of Holacracy themselves. And he also gave an opportunity to leave Zappos, if an employee thinks that he or she does not fit this new culture. Hsieh was also one of the first CEOs who utilized Twitter to communicate with stakeholders, such as customers, employees, and vendors, and gained many followers. Transparency from this active communication made him successful in terms of relationship. These concerns for people made Hsieh have happy employees. Moreover, Hsieh adopted a customer-centric strategy. To create customer satisfaction through the “wow” experience, such …show more content…
In the Dan Pink video we viewed on October 3, Pink said truly motivated people are driven by three factors. Name those factors and describe whether Zappos employees (under Holacracy) can find motivation through the factors. Dan Pink listed three factors that drive truly motivated people: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is a desire to be self-directed. As previously stated, under Holacracy, employees are required to direct themselves to the goals. They are encouraged to do decision making and directing their project. Employees could be absorbed in what they would like to accomplish and what needs to get done. These were the main characteristic of Holacracy, therefore, Zappos employees could obviously find their motivation through autonomy. Mastery is an urge to get better at the task. In the case of Zappos, Holacracy challenged employees. In fact, many employees leave Zappos. However, those who survived are encouraged to make full use of their skills in the project and keep challenging themselves by giving an entrepreneurial responsibility. This may guide them to achieve high proficiency at the task and understand the big picture of how the entire company